N E W S F R O M T H E R O S E N S T I E L S C H O O L O F M A R I N E & AT M O S P H E R I C S C I E N C E WINTER / SPRING 2020
R E S EARCH Rosenstiel Study Finds Offshore Aquaculture Has Low Environmental Impact A Rosenstiel School study found minimal environmental impacts to the surrounding waters from a major commercial fish-farming operation off the coast of Panama. It demonstrated that when appropriately sited, commercially scaled offshore aquaculture installations have the potential to operate in a way that produces a relatively small pollution footprint. The results also showed that any impacts from
offshore fish farming are minimal compared to all other forms of animal protein production for human consumption. “We must produce 30 million metric tons of seafood to keep up with human population growth and increasing consumption of seafood,” said Aaron Welch, Ph.D., who conducted the study
while a graduate student. “The open ocean appears to be the best environment that would allow for this expansion.” READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/offshore
Scientists Create First-Ever Global Atlas of Coral Reefs A study from scientists at the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans
Foundation and the Rosenstiel School used a combination of Earth-orbiting satellites and field observations to map coral reefs around the world. This first-ever global coral reef atlas contains highresolution maps of more than 65,000 square kilometers
(25,097 square miles) of coral reefs and surrounding habitats. The maps, published in the journal Coral Reefs, are the result of a 10-year global reef expedition by scientists who traveled to more than 1,000 remote coral reefs in 15 countries, mapping and surveying the reefs down to a one-square meter scale to better understand their health and resiliency. Many of the reefs visited on the expedition had never been studied before. READ MORE https://rebrand.ly/reefmaps